The Detroit Red Wings defeated former coach Mike Babcock and his Toronto Maple Leafs for a second time this season after Jakub Kindl scored an overtime winner in a 2-1 victory for the visitors on Friday.
The Red Wings won their third game in a row when defenseman Kindl decided the contest at 2:17 of the extra session after the Maple Leafs (2-8-3) had tied the game on a goal by Dion Phaneuf with 1:01 left in the third period.
Detroit left winger Henrik Zetterberg scored his 300th career goal in the first period to open the scoring.
Photo: AFP
The Red Wings (7-5-1), who were coached by Babcock for 10 years, won the first meeting of the season between the teams 4-0 at Detroit on Oct. 9.
Babcock knew he was going to a team that was a long-term project when he left Detroit for Toronto at the end of last season.
“I think our guys will tell you that we’re doing lots of good things,” Babcock said. “We’ve got to find a way to win games. I like what we’ve done. I like how hard we’re competing. I like how we’re executing. We gave ourselves a chance to tonight.”
Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer made 22 saves, while Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 32 shots and was a big factor in the game.
“They pushed hard in the third and we didn’t do a good enough job of getting the puck out of our own end. I don’t think we played nearly our best,” Red Wings first-year coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think we’re going to have to play much better as we continue on, but sometimes you have to find a way to get points when you don’t play your best.”
The Red Wings scored at 16:21 of the first period on a shot from just inside the Toronto blue line by Zetterberg that hit Reimer’s blocker and rolled into the net.
“I don’t know how it went in to be honest, I don’t think I shot it on net, I think it was going wide,” Zetterberg said after claiming a fourth goal of the season.
There were no goals in the second, although the Maple Leafs had two power plays and held an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.
The Red Wings did not have a power play until the third period when Maple Leafs center Nick Spaling took a high-sticking penalty after only six seconds.
The Maple Leafs killed off the penalty and came back with a couple of good chances of their own, including one by right winger Joffrey Lupul, who broke in alone, but could not beat Mrazek.
Toronto failed to score with a man advantage late in the period, but managed to tie the game at 18:59 when defenseman Phaneuf jammed in his first goal of the season from in front of the net on a pass from center Tyler Bozak.
In other NHL games, it was:
‧ Blackhawks 2, Devils 4
‧ Stars 4, Hurricanes 1
‧ Rangers 2, Avalanche 1
‧ Penguins 2, Oilers 1
‧ Blue Jackets 2, Ducks 4
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